1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cooking rack accessory, specifically a cooking rack accessory for steaming and cooking food.
2. Description of the Related Art
Outdoor grilling and barbequing have become extremely popular way to cook and prepare food. The grill or barbeque gives the food an added flavor not found in conventional cooking, such as stove top cooking, using a frying pan and using an oven to cook and prepare the food. Sometimes grillers would like to steam or smoke the food during the grilling or cooking process to give the food an added flavor. The steam or smoke permeates through the food to impart the food with the desired flavor. Prior art devices have been utilized to continually baste or steam the food during cooking. However, the steaming devices are inefficient and the basting devices are expensive and complicated. Some improvements have been made in the field. Examples of references related to the present invention are described below, and the supported teachings of each reference are incorporated by reference herein:
U.S. Pat. No. 6,431,164, issued to Wardell, discloses a water circulated grill including a housing containing spaced apart food supporting tubes and with a water catching system including spaced apart collection troughs to receive condensed water dropping from the sides of the water cooled supporting tubes, a steamer positioned beneath the water cooled food supporting tubes and above a heat supply source, whereby the heat supply source will heat the steamer to generate steam that moves between collection troughs to cook food placed on the tubes and wherein a water source supplying water to the steamer also supplies water to a water chamber of a steamer pot that has a burner receiving fuel from the same source that supplies fuel to the heat source.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,158,426, issued to Wardell, discloses a water circulated grill with spaced apart food supporting tubes and with a water catching system including spaced apart collection troughs to receive condensed water dropping from the sides of the water cooled supporting tubes and heat supply source positioned beneath the collection troughs to supply heat upwardly between the water collection troughs to cook food placed on the food supporting tubes and to heat the collection troughs and vaporize water collected therein.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,062,129, issued to Tippmann et al., discloses a griddle having a base with a surface for cooking food items that is heated by pressurized steam circulated through a passageway in the base from a temperature controlled boiler. Steam injected beneath a cover adapted to be placed over the food items cooking on the heated surface can greatly decrease the required cooking time for the food item. A grill heated by the same pressurized steam is also disclosed with a similar cover and steam injection feature.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,501,142, issued to Bailey, discloses a steamer device that is an elongated enclosed structure which is configured to receive and contain an amount of steamer liquid. The steamer device is placed within a bed of heated grill briquettes below the grilling surface of a grill assembly. The steamer device uses the heat from the briquettes to evaporate the steamer liquid and create flavored steam. Steam release openings formed in the enclosed structure direct the steam out of the device and towards the grilling surface to flavor the food being grilled on the surface. When the grilling surface and steamer device are enclosed, a steam atmosphere is created which flavors and moistens the food while providing a quicker cooking time and reduced flaming. The steam device does not alter operation of the grill nor prevent the natural juices of the food from falling onto a heated surface and being burned or evaporated to further flavor the grilled food. The device is inexpensive and simple to operate and functions continuously to steam the food while it cooks.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,367,951, issued to Purvis, discloses a grill steamer tray both for steaming food that is being cooked on a grill and for collecting grease drippings from the food to prevent an undesirable flaming of the grill. The tray includes a plurality of depressions that may be filled with water to steam the food as well as to collect the grease drippings. A plurality of openings are provided between the depressions to allow heat and smoke to pass through the openings for cooking purposes. The tray further includes removable finned tray liners that fit into the depressions to provide for easier cleaning of the tray after use.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,773,319, issued to Holland, discloses a barbecue grill including a housing having a bottom surface, a heat source adjacent the bottom surface, a heat deflector positioned above the heat source for uniform heat distribution, a grease collection and drainage system, a food supporting grate and a removable hood. Heat is evenly distributed throughout the housing by the heat deflector, and grease from food on the food supporting grate is efficiently collected and disposed of by the grease collection and drainage system. The grease collection and drainage system is adapted to easily convert the barbecue grill to use as both a smoker and a steamer.
The inventions heretofore known suffer from a number of disadvantages which include being inconvenient, being heavy, being expensive, being limited in portability, and being complex.
What is needed is a cooking rack accessory that solves one or more of the problems described herein and/or one or more problems that may come to the attention of one skilled in the art upon becoming familiar with this specification.